2006 Subaru Forester X 2.5 on 2040-cars

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Subaru to stop building Camry for Toyota in the US

It was back in 2007 that Subaru of Indiana Automotive, under contract from Subaru minority shareholder Toyota, built the first Toyota Camry at its plant in Lafayette, Indiana. Rumblings of the end of that contract work have been around for a while, as Subaru talked of expanding capacity to build more units and add a line for the Impreza, and Toyota talked of moving Camry production to its Georgetown, KY plant. The news was official internally last November when SIA Executive Vice President Tom Easterday told the Louisville Courier-Journal that Camry production would end. Now, Automotive News reports that both automakers have admitted publicly that the end will come in 2016.
SIA currently has a 170,000-unit capacity devoted to the home-brand Legacy and Outback models, while a $400-million expansion increases that to 300,000 units to prepare the facility for Impreza production in two years. Freeing up the 100,000 units of production devoted to the Camry means a 400,000-unit capability, which is far more than Subaru needs at the moment, but the Toyota exit will allow it to expand any way it sees fit. Subaru has said it will absorb the workers on the Camry line and no jobs will be lost, the mayor of Lafayette saying the development could change the timetable for the expansion.

10 automakers shack up in Detroit hotel to talk Takata airbags

Since Takata has decided not to take the lead concerning potential issues with its airbag inflators, the automakers have. Perhaps that's unsurprising, since it's the automakers, not Takata, that will take a beating on the dealership floor if consumers decide its models are a health hazards. The Detroit News reports that Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru met in a hotel conference room near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport last week to sort out a way to understand the technical issues involved. So far, faulty airbag inflators have been ruled the cause of five deaths and 50 injuries around the world, but neither Takata nor investigators understands exactly why the inflators are malfunctioning. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently asked Takata to issue a national recall, Takata declined, citing a minuscule failure rate and the fact that it's still investigating the issue. Toyota and Honda then made an industry-wide appeal for "a coordinated, comprehensive testing program" that would pinpoint the problem inflators and get them replaced, and that's what the Detroit meeting was about. Numerous issues, however, will make this a long row to hoe: simply getting the parts to replace the nearly 20 million inflators in cars recalled around the world so far - even working with other suppliers - will take a years, but more importantly, no one knows if the replacement inflators currently being installed will suffer the same issue. Answers will hopefully come quickly with Takata, the ten automakers and NHTSA all independently investigating the problem.

Subaru WRX S4 STI Sport # is a sharper, limited-edition WRX for Japan only

Depending on your nationality, age, and interests, the first association for the # symbol could be pound — for weight or the telephone, number, plain old hash or hashtag, or sharp for the musically inclined. Subaru Japan intends that last meaning for its new WRX S4 STI Sport #, because this is a sharper version of the mass-produced WRX S4 STI Sport introduced to the top of the range last year. Of note, this vehicle is a standard WRX, not a full-beans WRX STI. The differentiator is the "STI Sport" designation, which has also been applied to the Japan-market Levorg and BRZ, representing a model developed with input from Subaru Tecnica International. Last year's flagship trim picked up STI-tuned Bilstein DTMatic II inverted struts at front, STI-tuned conventional springs and dampers in back, 18-inch black wheels to go with black trim pieces like mirror caps and decklid spoiler, and a special interior with Bordeaux leather and ultra suede. Output from the 2.0-liter four-cylinder Boxer motor was left unchanged from the WRX S4 at 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, shifting through the automaker's Sport Lineartonic CVT. The sedan costs 4,093,200 yen ($38,050 U.S.). The limited-edition WRX S4 STI Sport # displays a keener edge thanks to three STI components tested on the division's Nurburgring race cars — a flexible front tower bar, and flexible draw stiffeners for front and rear. All three components have been available on the aftermarket for a while, but their stock fitment is apparently new. The flexible tower bar looks like a typical strut tower reinforcement, but a pillow ball joint in its middle provides vertical elasticity. The bar maintains rigidity across the vehicle, but when the suspension needs a little give to work up and down, the pillow ball joint allows that. The flexible draw stiffeners are adjustable rods that connect a longitudinal frame member to a component on the cross-member, increasing chassis stiffness. STI says the three parts deliver faster steering response, reduced roll speed, and improved wheel tracking in the case of road ruts or crosswinds without compromising suspension suppleness. The Boxer sees some tweaks like a freer-breathing air filter and exhaust that raise torque by up to 10%, and sharpen throttle response. Thicker sound insulation in the floor and extra vibration-damping material in the spare tire well cut road noise for all occupants.